Field
The present disclosure relates to wireless communications and, more specifically but not exclusively, to verification of cell authenticity in a wireless network.
Description of the Related Art
This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
In the context of network security, a spoofing attack is a condition in which one device or program successfully masquerades as another by falsifying data, thereby gaining an illegitimate access and/or advantage.
Until recently, wireless-network operators assumed that attackers lacked the expertise and/or resources to build a device that can emulate a base station. Under this assumption, the wireless networks were typically configured to require authentication from the connecting mobile terminal (e.g., a mobile phone), but the connecting mobile terminal was not configured to require authentication from the corresponding base station(s). However, the continued technological development has now rendered the above-indicated assumption obsolete. As a result, practical solutions that can protect a wireless network and its users from a spoofing attack in which an illegitimate entity presents itself as a legitimate base station are being currently developed by the telecom industry.